Many activities, especially outdoor ones such as horseback riding, swimming, and running, make it impractical for participants to wear eyeglasses on the face all or even part of the time, especially if the lenses are needed only for close-up reading. Prior to the present invention, such individuals must carry their reading glasses, generally utilizing expansive frames, in a pocket or in some similar fashion, all of which necessitate significant time to access the glasses and then return them.
Wrapping glasses around or attaching them to the wrist has been disclosed previously in certain ways. For instance, Amioka in U.S. Pat. No. 7,287,851 discloses eyewear frames that can bend around the wrist. Stewart in U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,843 and Alcantara Maia in U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,373 teach ways of carrying reading lenses connected to a special wristwatch.
Bi-stable ribbon springs have been used for years to aid in attachment of decorated fabric or watches to the wrist. To the best knowledge of the Applicant, imbedding reading or other lenses into such slap-on bracelets has not been disclosed or used before now.
Therefore, there is a need for an article of eyewear that is configurable between a generally straight elongated form for reading purposes and a curved form to be worn on the wrist of the user.